Out with the gold as United reveals new livery

Given the plethora of blues in the new United Airlines livery, it was only fitting that it was unveiled in Chicago. The new paint job had already leaked, as these things tend to do, ahead of the ceremony and the carrier released a time-lapse video of it being applied. Speculation that the gold in the previous livery would disappear proved correct and it was in with three versions of blue: Rhapsody, Sky and United. READ our ratings for the airline The three blues were introduced last year, along with purple, in new uniforms. United is reducing the use of gold, which was added to the brand 30 years ago. The tail is now a gradient of all three blues and the gold and white globe on the tail is now a cleaner, mainly Sky Blue version. The gold in the sweeping line along the fuselage, known as the swoop, is now Rhapsody Blue.

The most striking changes are the giant United logo (the "wordmark")  on the side of the aircraft and the striking United Blue engine nacelles and winglets. A new tagline "Connecting people. Uniting the World" appears near the nose and the plane's belly is painted "Runway Gray". The US carrier said the modernized livery would bring a refreshed look to its fleet that was "a visual representation of United's ongoing brand evolution while staying true to the history it has developed over the last 93 years". "As we improve and elevate our customer experience, we are changing the way people think and feel about United, and this branding captures that new spirit," United chief executive Oscar Munoz said in unveiling the livery. "Each improvement we've added to our service advances our evolution as an airline, furthering our effort to elevate and redefine customer service in the sky. "This modernized design, especially our iconic globe, enhances the very best of United's image and values while pointing in the direction of where we intend to go next in serving our customers." The airline said its aircraft on average receive a new paint job every seven years so it will take some time for the new livery to work its way through the airline's 779 mainline aircraft and the 569 regional aircraft operated by affiliated carriers. The 737-800 unveiled Wednesday will be joined by a mix of narrowbody, widebody and regional aircraft with updated livery throughout the year.     [embed]https://twitter.com/i/status/1120871420525993984[/embed]